A boy from Willoughby Hills startled his classmates, teachers and a community when he fired two shots Tuesday morning in South High School in Willoughby.

The 15-year-old sophomore asked to be excused from his third-period class. He stuck his head into his friend Jill Lipold's classroom and asked if she was there.

Jill looked up and saw he was holding a handgun, she said. Before she could say more than his name, he said, "Goodbye, Jill" and slammed the door.

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Then, she heard the first gunshot.

"He felt like Jill was one of his last friends, and he wanted to say goodbye," said Laurie Lipold, Jill's mother.

The bullet went into the hallway ceiling. The sound resonated through the halls.

The boy fired a second shot with his .40-caliber handgun into a trophy case outside of the principal's office.

He also knocked on another classroom door because another friend was inside, Principal Paul Lombardo said, but the door was locked.

Then, a series of events occurred in quick succession. A student and a teacher in separate classrooms called 911, Lombardo ordered each class be placed in lockdown and police arrived at school within seconds of the first call. Then, the boy pointed the gun at his head.

He had been depressed, his friends said. Other students called him shy but nice, a video game fan.

On his MySpace page, it says he "likes guns" and thought about joining the military after he graduated from high school. A friend also wrote that he had a smile that could light up a room.

It is still uncertain how much of what he did was premeditated and how much was spontaneous, but he did text Jill to ask where she would be third period Tuesday, she said.

"He wasn't a bad kid. He didn't do bad things. He was just depressed," Laurie Lipold said.

Lombardo and Assistant Principal Jeff Lyons talked to the student and tried to convince him to put the gun down.

"He said he didn't know why he was doing this, that this wasn't him," Lombardo said. "I feel bad for the young man and his family. He did a great thing to put the gun down."

"We expressed that there's still a lot of life left for him," Lyons said.

The teen never pointed the gun at any staff or students other than himself, authorities said.

After some cajoling, the boy set down the gun and kicked it away from himself.

Willoughby officers took him to the police station.

Nobody was hurt. As a safety precaution, Willoughby police and members of the west end Lake County SWAT team combed the school.

Students were evacuated from the building then released to their parents.

Willoughby Middle School and Edison Elementary also were placed on lockdown but not evacuated.

Authorities were able to prevent the situation from escalating, partly because they had trained for it.

"We talked about this a number of times. What do you when a worst case scenario happens?" Lyons said.

"The only good message out of this is (the importance) of training, training, training," Willoughby Police Chief Conrad Straube said.

The student has been taken to Windsor-Laurelwood Center for observation.

No decision has been made as to what charges he will face, if any.

Police confiscated the handgun, which the boy reportedly got from home.

He also had 31 rounds on him and in the gun, in addition to the two he fired, Straube said.

South High School is back in session today and counselors are available for students who want it. Lombardo said he hoped things would be back to normal today.